Open Calls for Submissions

Hear Me Roar

I’m looking for stories about empowered women and dragons. Women slayers, shifters, lovers and riders are all welcome as long as the women have agency and the dragons are awesome.

While I’m being purposefully vague here, I will be looking for the greatest possible diversity in stories–not only in characters, but setting, dragon-types, plot, voice and style. If you’ve read any of my other anthologies you should have a fairly good idea of what I’m looking for and if you haven’t, maybe now is a good time to change that LOL

Story Length: up to 7,500 words

Payment: $20 and a paperback contributor copy

Submission Window: This anthology has the longest submission window ever (a whole year!) because I’m only opening it to submissions from members of my mailing list so I don’t know how quickly I can expect it to fill. If submission quantities warrant I will close to submissions earlier but not without sending a notification with a least a month’s notice to the mailing list.

Currently submissions are set to close on September 1, 2019

No simultaneous or multiple submissions.

No reprints.

How to Submit: I send the submission URL out to subscribers each time I send an email. Alternatively, if you email me from an email address that is subscribed to the mailing list I will send the URL to you that way.

Before it becomes an FAQ: Anyone who identifies as a woman is one, whether they were born into a female body or not.

Include a note in your cover letter that tells me which email address is subscribed to my mailing list.

Earth: Giants, Golems and Gargoyles

Keep your feet on the ground. Sink in roots. Stay grounded. Mother Earth. We come from dust, and to dust we return…

Earth is steady. Solid. Reliable. It is the source of life and the thing which sustains it. But it’s not always serene and peaceful. It takes a lot to stir the earth but when it does, things get dramatic. Quakes swallow cities. Oceans rise. Mountains crumble. Earth is not weak, and it knows no pity.

In this, the second installment of the Elemental Anthology series, I want to explore the many facets of this often under-estimated element and the creatures associated with it so Earth: Giants, Golems and Gargoyles will be filled with stories about every kind of earthy creature you can imagine, not only those listed in the subtitle. I’m looking for trolls, dwarves, earth dragons, goblins, ogres, orcs, grotesques and earthen beasts no one has ever heard of before. And of course this anthology will not be complete without at least one giant, golem and gargoyle!

Rights and compensation: Payment: $50 CAD flat fee and a paperback copy of the anthology. In exchange we are seeking first world rights in English and exclusive right to publish in print and electronic format for six months after publication date, after which publisher retains nonexclusive right to continue to publish for the life of the anthology.

Swashbuckling Cats: Nine Lives on the Seven Seas

If you think cats and water don’t mix, think again.

I’m putting together an anthology full of feisty felines on the high seas! I want pirate cats, and Viking cats. Submariner cats and explorer cats. This book is going to be filled with adventure-loving cats, puns and fun. I want it to be a wild, rollicking ride complete with sword fights, sea monsters, treasure hunting, discovering new worlds and lots and lots of kittehs.

Be careful not to get too caught up in the fun and forget to include a strong plot and detailed characters for your story, though.

I’m a sucker for a great setting, three-dimensional characters and high stakes. And if your story elicits real emotion from me–laughter, tears, anger or anything in between–you will have increased your chances of success significantly.

Rights and compensation: Payment: $50 CAD flat fee and a paperback copy of the anthology. In exchange we are seeking first world rights in English and exclusive right to publish in print and electronic format for six months after publication date, after which publisher retains nonexclusive right to continue to publish for the life of the anthology.

Hello! I sent in a submission for Sirens at the end of last week, and I’m just wondering if I’m supposed to get an email confirmation that it’s been received. Also, will all submissions get a response?

I am not sending out email confirmations that submissions have been received but all submissions will get a response, yes. I also try to update social media (and this blog) with updates about how I’m progressing through the submissions so keep an eye there if you’re worried. Also, you’re always welcome to query me if you think your story has slipped through a crack somewhere but for the record I see yours in my inbox 🙂

What a wonderful anthology to produce. I bet many copies will be sold because so many love the topics on either the horse, the Pegasus, or the unicorn. When I saw the call for Equus submissions, I thought wow, finally. However, then I read up to only 7,500 words and the wind in my sails fell away. Because I’ve written a fantasy novella about a dream keeper whose best friend is a blue Pegasus (dream keeper for animals), I wonder if you know of a place to submit such a story? Do you think World Weaver might be a good fit? They begin accepting again in February, right?

As far as I know right now WWP will be re-opening to submissions in 2017, yes, but it’s difficult to say how a good a fit they will be for your story based on what you’ve told me. My advice would be ‘Submit it and see’ 🙂

Thank you for getting back to me on my last comment. This is nice being able to ask questions and then receive a reply.
About the upcoming Equus anthology, will other work be accepted besides fiction? I have an essay about how the horse is actually my mythology. The essay goes into how the horse is my mythology, describes our relationship, and then how the horse has influenced my life.

This is kind of impossible to answer without having read the story. The best suggestion I can give you is to send it and find out. Sending earlier is better for these kinds of situations, as well. That way if I say, “I like this but there’s not quite enough fire. Please revise to add more fire and resubmit” you’ll have time to do that.

I had been hoping to write a story for the Fire Anthology. Unfortunately, due to life, I’m fairly certain that isn’t happening (this is based on the extended deadline seen in the Submittable page–if not, boy I feel kind of stupid). In order to have ample time to prepare for the next one, is it okay to ask you what the next theme and submission date will be?

Also, just wondering, had the submission period for this anthology already passed, or do we have until the end of the month to get them in? I’m a little confused because the Submittable site says Aug. 31st, but this page says otherwise.

Good day. I saw this on Onspecmag’s Facebook page and was intrigued. I am a fledgling writer, retired military member with some time on his hands, and have written several Dr. Who novels for my daughter as gifts. Just wondering about publication, if and it is a big IF my story is accepted, who publishes the book and what rights are associated with it. Thank you for taking the time to answer my question and I look forward to sending my submission in the future.

Grimm, Grit and Gasoline will be published by World Weaver Press (http://www.worldweaverpress.com) and the contract will be for exclusive rights to the story for the first year, followed by non-exclusive rights for the lifetime of the anthology.

Hi Rhonda, this is Rhonda 🙂 Inching toward an idea for your gargoyle theme, but afraid I’m missing something – these are the gargoyles of Notre Dame fame? stone wingy things coming to life at night? Would it be all right if there’s no particular “earthy” theme in that?